It’s going to be a packed Stamford Bridge on Sunday as Jose Mourinho returns to the arena for the first time since being sacked by Chelsea. This is Mourinho’s second trip to Stamford Bridge as an opposition boss as his first visit knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010. He will be looking to beat the Blues once again, but this time as the manager of Manchester United.
Also read: EPL 2016/17: 5 things Chelsea need to do to beat Manchester United
The Red Devils haven’t defeated the Blues in any of their past seven games and will be desperate for a win in today’s match
Chelsea, on the other hand, have been in impressive form of late and will look to extend their good record against Manchester United by defeating them at their home den.
As the two fierce rivals face off on Super Sunday, let’s look at the 5 interesting things ahead of the clash:
#1 What kind of reception will Jose Mourinho get?
There is no denying that Jose Mourinho’s reign at Stamford Bridge is going to be one of the important chapters in Chelsea's history books. However, the story would end in the negative manner as Roman Abramovich sacked Mourinho last year after the Portuguese manager saw 9 Premier League defeats in the first 16 games that left the team hovering above the relegation zone.
Despite Chelsea's on-pitch struggles, Mourinho remains very popular among the fans as they chanted his name and booed those who were responsible for the sacking of the Portuguese.
However, when the 53-year-old was appointed as the manager of Manchester United there were some mixed responses from the Chelsea fans - some suggested they weren't really bothered about his new job, while the others criticized him and feared that Mourinho could restore the glory days at Old Trafford.
Now he will take his Manchester United side to South-West London and it's interesting to see what kind of reception he receives from the Chelsea fans on Sunday. In the press conference on Friday, Mourinho insisted that he does not care about the boos as he is fully focused on the game.
“To say I care [about the reaction] is not true. What can I expect? I don’t know. They can think about me and remember our great relationship and have a good reaction. They can look at me and say, ‘for 90 minutes he is Manchester United manager and he is playing against us, so he is not someone we like at this moment,’” he said.
#2 Will Hazard and Costa spoil Mourinho’s visit?
There is no denying that the duo of Hazard and Costa played a pivotal role in Chelsea’s title-winning campaign under Mourinho in the 2014-15 season. However, the duo looked like a shadow of themselves in the next season, especially Hazard whose performances were the hardest to comprehend. The reigning Player of the Year was below-par and failed to score a single Premier League goal for Mourinho last season.
Because of the poor form of their star players the side that had strolled to the title a year before, fell completely apart.
Now under the Italian manager, these two players have regained their lost touch and are suddenly looking like the version of themselves that we saw under Mourinho in the 2014-15 season. Without any doubt, the duo will be central to Chelsea’s fortunes on Sunday and it will be interesting to see how they break Mourinho’s restraints.
#3 Will Mourinho park the bus once again?
Despite having the expensive players and one of the best strikers in world football in his ranks Mourinho’s tactics against Liverpool were purely defensive as he cared more about the strengths of the opposition than his own team.
It was apparent on Monday that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the lone man in the Liverpool half and the two wide men, Marcus Rashford and Ashely Young, were purely selected to block off Liverpool’s full backs than to provide cutbacks and crosses.
Now the question is, will United follow this cautious approach against Chelsea? It is understood that the Red Devils aren’t on the best run of form at the moment with just one win in their last five Premier League matches but that doesn’t mean that a team like United have to sit back and protect their own goal every time they go against their rival teams.
Also read: EPL 2016-17: 5 things Manchester United must do to beat Chelsea
Having enjoyed lucrative football under Ferguson the fans would be really worried if Mourinho employs these tactics against his former club on Sunday.
Mourinho’s counterpart Antonio Conte has insisted that his team will never park the bus like the way United did against Liverpool.
“It’s always right to play for a win and to start a game trying for a win. I always try and transfer these thoughts to my players. If you play at home or away it must be the same a game with a win,” said Conte
#4 Will 3-4-3 work against Manchester United?
After winning the first three matches the Blues suffered a dip in form and were hammered by Liverpool and Arsenal successively.
In both the matches, Chelsea never threatened to get back into the match, and especially against their London rivals they failed to register a shot on target until the 82nd minute. Those performances really put a strong question mark on whether Conte has the right team that is good enough to beat the title contenders.
The shambolic defence and the uncertain formation (4-1-4-1) which created a lot of gaps between midfield and attack was the main reason for the defeat against Liverpool and Arsenal.
However, a lot has changed after those defeats as the London club emerged victorious in the next two forgiving fixtures against Hull City and Leicester City. In those two games, Conte’s 3-4-3 formation worked really well and the side kept successive clean sheets for the first time in the league since the start of the year.
However, the Italian’s new system will be strongly tested on Sunday as he comes up against a better team than either Hull or Leicester.
#5 Can Manchester United’s big boys step up?
In terms of marketing and merchandising it is safe to say that both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba are very good signings by Ed Woodward but on the footballing terms, the duo have made an inconsistent start to the season.
The big Swede has struggled for goals since the derby defeat to Manchester City on September 10. Due to his insipid performances, there have been calls that Mourinho should drop Ibrahimovic for the key clash against Chelsea.
With Wayne Rooney and Henrikh Mkhitaryan reportedly absent for Sunday’s clash, it’s unlikely that the Manchester United manager will drop Ibrahimovic to the bench.
However, the repeated failures from the striker will force the manager to find a place for him near Wayne Rooney, who has been warming the bench since the 3-1 defeat to Watford on September 18.
Also read: EPL 2016/17: Chelsea vs Manchester United - Combined XI
Like Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba’s performances in the Premier League has been subject to plenty of criticism in recent weeks but the Frenchman showed his quality against Fenerbahce on Thursday.
Despite the criticisms, Ashley Young has backed his Manchester United teammates saying that the duo are setting really well at the club. “He [Pogba] is a fantastic player, and obviously there's more to come from him,” Young said.
He continued by saying, “He showed it in different games that he's talented, he's been like that since he was first here, and he has settled back into the team. [Ibrahimovic] is another one, I think a lot has been said about him, the arrogant side of him, but he's been fantastic, they've both been brilliant.”
